Bloomberg News

Petronas Said to Plan Property Trust for 88-Floor Twin Towers

By Joyce Koh
November 27, 2012

Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s
state oil and gas company, plans to combine all its stakes in
Kuala Lumpur’s 88-floor Petronas Twin Towers into a real estate
investment trust to be formed by KLCC Property Holdings Bhd. (KLCC),
two people familiar with the matter said.

KLCC Property will buy the remaining 49.5 percent stake in
the towers it doesn’t already own from KLCC (Holdings) Sdn. for
2.86 billion ringgit ($938 million), the people said, asking not
to be identified. The developer then plans to fold the office
and shopping complex and two other Kuala Lumpur buildings into a
trust called KLCC REIT, they said.

KLCC Property is 52.6 percent owned by Petroliam Nasional,
according to data compiled Bloomberg. KLCC (Holdings) is a
wholly owned unit of the state energy company, according to its
website.

KLCC Property, which has surged 77 percent this year in
Kuala Lumpur, suspended its shares from afternoon trading today
pending a “material announcement.” The company said in June
that it may form a property trust to boost shareholder value.

Hashim Wahir, KLCC Property’s chief executive officer,
didn’t respond to message left with his secretary today seeking
comment on the transaction. A statement will be released this
evening, said a company spokeswoman who asked not to be named.

The other two buildings that will be included in KLCC REIT
are the Menara 3 Petronas and Menara ExxonMobil towers, the
people said. KLCC REIT will be stapled to KLCC Property’s
existing shares, and the new security will trade under the name
KLCC Stapled Security, they said.

KLCCP Stapled Security will have assets of more than 15
billion ringgit, according to the people. That would make it more
than three times bigger than IGB Real Estate Investment Trust,
whose 4.7 billion ringgit of assets at the end of 2011 made it
Malaysia’s largest property trust.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Joyce Koh in Singapore at
jkoh38@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Philip Lagerkranser at
lagerkranser@bloomberg.net